Meet Our Vendors: Salt Blade
Back in 2013, before the word “coronavirus” really meant anything to anyone, a different coronavirus from the one we know today was spreading through the pigs across the country, starting in the Midwest and making its way to Washington. This virus was spreading at the same time that Bob Blade was hoping to start his locally-sourced meat-curing business, Salt Blade. He was reaching out to local farms left and right, asking them if they had any meat he could use, but they all had to turn him away.
As a last-ditch effort, Bob headed to the Ballard Farmers Market and stopped by the booth of Olsen Farms. Bob had bought some meat from them in the past, but never at a commercial level. He explained his situation and asked if he could buy 25 lbs of meat. The Olsens agreed, and their partnership was born. Now Bob sources over 1,300 lbs of meat per week, directly from Olsen Farms.
Bob didn’t always work in the culinary arts. His education is in biomedical engineering, and he worked in IT for over 10 years before he decided that he need to do something that he was more passionate about. He has always loved food and cooking, so he wanted to start a company that would be ethically-sourced and better for the environment than bigger, factory farm-based companies.
Like the scientist he is, he knew he had to do some experimenting. After much trial and error, he decided to focus on dried, cured meats. His experimentation period was self-taught, and once he settled on salami, he worked on developing some flavors. He wanted to have a mix of traditional flavors, like the Saucisson Sec and Chorizo, as well as some unique flavors like the Seattle Stick, which uses coffee and chocolate to give the meat a rich flavor.
His signature flavor, Urutan, actually comes directly out of his biomedical engineering background. In his search for his passion, Bob came across an article in the Journal of Biomedical Engineering about a Balinese salami that was food-safe, despite not undergoing the series of treatments that the salami had to undergo in the United States. The article was a perfect intersection of Bob’s passion and his expertise, and even included a recipe at the end.
By using his education to follow his passion, Bob was able to create a successful company. He now has over 20 employees, and sells his salami at over 20 farmers markets per week during the peak season. You can find out what makes his salami such an excellent addition to any charcuterie board by picking up a stick from any of our year-round farmers markets this weekend.